The Catechism of the Summa - SECOND SECTION - A DETAILED SURVEY OF MAN'S RETURN TO GOD - XII. OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM WHICH CORRESPONDS TO CHARITY; AND OF THE SIN TO WHICH IT IS OPPOSED (A)

XII. OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM WHICH CORRESPONDS TO CHARITY; AND OF THE SIN TO WHICH IT IS OPPOSED

  (A)  
Is there a gift of the Holy Ghost that corresponds to the virtue of charity?

Yes; and it is the gift of wisdom which is the most perfect of all the gifts (XLV.).
 
What is the gift of wisdom?

The gift of wisdom is that gift of the Holy Ghost which effects that man, under the direct action of the Holy Spirit, judges of all things by reference to the highest and most sublime of all causes, which is the wisdom itself of God in so far as it is made manifest to us by faith (XLV. 1).
 
How is this gift of wisdom distinguished from the intellectual virtue of the same name, or from the gifts of intuition or insight, of knowledge and of counsel, and in so far as these latter are distinguished from the intellectual virtues which are also called intuition or insight, knowledge and prudence?

In a few words these differences may be summed up thus: On the part of the intellect, in things of faith, there are several acts essentially distinct to which correspond the virtues or their respective gifts which are themselves distinct from each other.

The very essence of faith is the act that assents to things revealed by God. Upon this act of assenting, which is the principal act, there ensue certain secondary or complementary acts that perfect the intellect in the same order of the things of faith; and these acts are understanding and judging. The act of understanding or perceiving is, generically speaking, one only, and to it corresponds the intellectual virtue of insight or intuition, and in a higher scale of perfection the gift of understanding. The act of judging is manifold, for it is threefold: this act may judge of things, in general, according to divine reasons or according to human; or it may judge of things by the application of its knowledge to things themselves in particular. In the first case, the intellectual virtue which corresponds to the act of judging is called the intellectual virtue of wisdom; and, in a higher scale, the gift of wisdom. In the second case, it is called the intellectual virtue of knowledge; and, in a higher scale, the gift of knowledge. In the third case, it is called the intellectual virtue of prudence; and, in a higher scale, the gift of counsel.

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